The Effect of Global Financial Crisis on Subjective Well-being and Work Conditions of the Public and Private Sector Employees

Abstract

This article analyzes the effect of global financial crisis on subjective well-being and work conditions of the public and private sector employees. The study is based on the analysis of data of the 4th, 5th and 6th waves of the European Social Survey wherein populations of the majority of European countries (including Lithuania) were asked different questions about their life and work conditions. The empirical analysis is focused on the changes of subjective well-being and work conditions of the public and private sector employees during the global financial crisis. Analysis of the survey data showed that, overall, the global financial crisis seems to have an effect on the general cognitive and emotional subjective well-being. However, it had little or no effect at all on evaluations of health and material (financial) status. In Lithuania, unlike elsewhere in Europe, evaluations of material (financial) status showed considerable variation during the period of crisis. The study also revealed that employees of the private sector in Europe to a larger extent experienced changes of working conditions during the global financial crisis. In this regard, the case of Lithuania was again distinctive as a much larger share of Lithuanian respondents declared that they experienced wage cuts during the period of crisis, and it was a little more characteristic for the public sector.